Really? Really?! I wanted to shout to the mother who left that comment. Because autism is so much easier to manage? Because autism runs its course and things can go back to the way they were before? Because autism lends itself to better health, development and lifelong skill development? You have no clue, NO clue.

I read that mom’s comment a few weeks ago on a thread about vaccines and the measles when the measles “outbreak” first made the news. At the time less than two dozen cases of the measles had been reported. Now we’re hearing that over 100 people have contracted the disease. They’ve even pinpointed a “Measles Mary” http://news.sciencemag.org/health/2014/04/measles-outbreak-traced-fully-vaccinated-patient-first-time — the first person who of the “outbreak”. I’m curious if officials will make her wear a big letter M somewhere on her clothing to warn others of her measles-riddled body.

Measles is a contagious disease that can spread in the wild (naturally) and is proving to spread rather quickly post-MMR vaccination as well and though vaccinated populations. Measles, which is one of the components of the three-in-one vaccine, is recommended twice on the current vaccine schedule in the United States.

The adult vaccination schedule also includes a recommended two doses of the MMR vaccine:

Before the media fear mongering to vaccinate as many as possible in the hopes that herd immunity would work, measles was called a childhood disease, childhood meaning that it’s typically caught by and transmitted through kids. With the recent measles “outbreaks” being reported, two things are clear: measles can be caught beyond the childhood years, and the vaccine isn’t doing what it’s been created, marketed and sold to do.

What’s interesting, and begs to be investigated and more openly discussed with the public, is that Measles Mary, and many of those people who’ve also come down with the measles, have been vaccinated for, you guessed it, the measles!

What should happen then? First, we change how the measles, and now the mumps, are talked about. Second, we stop classifying those diseases as vaccine-preventable because, clearly, those diseases are being spread from vaccinations. Third, more people should be made to realize that vaccines come with flaws.

Should all of that happen maybe we’d see more people question why they’re being told they need to be vaccinated. With more people questioning, I’d expect that a new wave of concerned parents and citizens rise up demanding honest answers. As they demand answers, I bet we’d see a push to truly investigate the vaccine program and the many problems it has.

Vaccines haven’t prevented all diseases. Vaccines haven’t saved every life that has come into contact with them either. The mom who wished for her child to get autism instead of contracting the measles should walk a mile in my shoes before she begins to think that autism is a cake walk. It most certainly isn’t.

I’ve thought more than a few times that I’d rather my son dealt with a short-term disease than autism. It carries fewer side effects than those his vaccines introduced to his health and would be merely a blip on the radar of Ronan’s childhood. It also would’ve greatly paled in comparison to all that the regressive autism that his vaccines gave him too. Some may balk at me making that sort of statement, and I’d guess that they’d be the ones who believe fully in “the system”, but it shows that their trust in “preventative medicine” has blinded them of what can and has happened to many children as a result of their vaccinations.

I, too, was once blinded. What I wouldn’t give to take back my trust in a broken, over-used and under-guaranteed vaccine program. I believed in those vaccines. I trusted those people who told me that my child needed them. Life was easier not knowing the truth. But once I knew to question what I had been told, it was too late. It was too late to trust and also too late for my son.

The vaccines I opted for didn’t give Ronan any immunity but instead created a disorder and worry so great that I am now forced to take one day at a time. Because of the autism disorder that grips his development, I cannot plan too far in advance for Ronan’s future. The severe reaction he had robs Ronan of his childhood and has potentially stolen his dependence as an adult. As tough as it’s been, I will never stop hoping for better for Ronan, for him to be more able, and, of course, closer to independence.

Autism hasn’t been just a blip, nor has it eradicated any diseases or other disorders for Ronan. In fact, he got sicker and weaker post vaccination exacerbating issues no child should have to deal with. I’ve experienced days in which my son is so sick that I can only hope he makes it to the next. I would never wish that feeling on any parent, educated about autism or otherwise. Here’s hoping more people wake up to reality, to the causes of the “outbreaks” and to questioning why they are still trusting a system that doesn’t seem to be serving any of us very well at all.

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You can confirm on the FDA website that the German Measles (rubella) component of MMR is made by growing the virus on human lung cells.

If you remember, the problems that came from feeding dead cows to cows or dead pigs to pigs with mad cow disease. This idea of "cannibalism" as medicine cannot lead to any good.

Even worse, but the drug companies label information won't out and out say it, is the source of the human lung cells. I have read an unconfirmed report that they come from aborted humans. Autism or no-autism, we should draw the line at human sacrifices for our medicine.

Bless you Lauren;
I see that TACA has both the gluten free/ cassien diet and
now has included specific low carb diets as well.

The low carb diet is what my family is on.We chose Atkins and We drink kefir - that is a type of femented milk - the microbes eat the carbohydrates and leave behind B vitamins, fat and protein- plus give us good microbes.

we chose this diet because we have seizures in our family . and an older seizure diet called the ketogenic diet was high in high in cream, coconut oil and low is carbs did control seizures, but unlike the Atkins diet was strict hard to follow.

I feed mine a lot of salmon too --

There is a saying -- it is not a sprint-- it is a marathon.

My kids are now in their 20s and 30s.

I think that I have won this race with my son. He still has autism but he has a great sense of humor that keeps everyone around him laughing at his witty jokes!!!! That is correct -- he has a job (so far) and he drives. Something that is a miracle.

Look up Templin Grandin's U tubes and have a look at her. She still has her autism but she can functions very well.

Thank you all so much for this helpful advice! I feel much better now about this site... I honestly did not know that there could actually be a specific cause other then don't know or genetic .. I'm actually really pissed now! I've been mislead for the past year and my daughters suffering but it's killing me to think there was a way I could have prevented this! I did have shots during my pregnancy for early labor precautions ( my other 2 were born very early )... The drs swore to me they could not harm the baby just protect it! I can't figure out any other possible way this happened... The shots were progesterone ... I never took meds or live near any of the environments that I've read of.. My daughter had a severe milk protein allergy until about 14 months.. She had prescribed infant formula but to this day refuses any animal products or gluten .. She literal eats 4 things ( corn, peas, pineapples and grapes )... They're threatening feeding tubes due to her lack of progress from feeding therapy... This is honestly hell on earth. If I can find out the cause can I fix it??? Did I do this to my child ? I can't live with the thoughts that won't leave my head every day and every night... I feel like I can't trust anyone.. Like something isn't being told to me.. Thank you all so much for your time to reply to my posts..I have a ton of research and learning to do .. At least I feel like I have a place to start now.. How do people cope with this and remain sane??

Starry,
Everyone has posted wonderful suggestions to research for your child. My favorite alternate "cause" of autism is an unhealthy microbiome or gut bugs. Just like there are a few mostly genetic causes of autism, I think a particularly unhealthy gut bug mix can set a child on the path to autism, the regressive kind, even with only the typical toxins most kids handle without a problem (and no vaccines). Theresa Conrick has some excellent posts on this site that explain ways that bad gut bugs contribute to autism. Even small issues in the categories Jenny mentions could be greatly intensified in the presence of really bad gut bugs.

Jen, what a wonderful post. And you are right, it seems that what helps one person can help another, but be absolutely useless for a third.
And it is amazing what you can discover that will sometimes help!
Have two sons with different health issues; one with ADHD type symptoms seems to think clearer and concentrate better with omega 3/6/9. The other one with ACC has no change at all on it. They both do better on probiotics, and one of them reacts badly to almost any antibiotic. One had severe food allergies, the other major vomiting issues.. Different kids, different problems and at times different solutions.

Starry night; always a good idea of course, to check with your doctor when starting things to see what they think and to ask about safety. Wishing you good luck!

Jenny's comments make gaining knowledge such a daunting task. But I have learned about all of them in my quest to help my child. It is really heartbreaking to see a child suffer and have so few people in the medical profession give credence to mothers who desperately need help.

Lauren, I am on vacation with only sporadic internet access, or I would have responded to this sooner. Autism is the result of brain damage, which is permanent. Persistent measles can lead to encephalitis many years later, but most of us who had measles had no long-term effects. How silly for anyone to say they would rather their child have autism than measles!!!

Language disorder is the most serious aspect of autism, and a potential cause of developmental language disorder should have been recognized decades ago. I will continue to point out the brain damage found in monkeys subjected to asphyxia at birth (see the October 1969 issue of the Scientific American). Nuclei in the auditory pathway were most severely damaged.

Prenatal exposure to valproic acid or rubella virus is associated with autism. High blood flow in the auditory pathway makes this system especially susceptible to damage from exposure to any factor that disrupts aerobic metabolism. I will keep trying to get this point across.

Lauren:
Starry Night is a good song. Nothing wrong with a moniker, nickname, or a pseudonym just thought it was a curious choice.

Jenny has really listed some things that might be a help to you..

As you can see - I explained why we would all are a bit skeptical of your claim -being that we all have been so abused by the medical professionals. Sorry I did not meant o traumatized you in turn.

If you decided not to vaccinate then something -has sparked a warning in the back of your mind.

PThere was a recent study about babies being born with autism --that it was not a virus or pathogen causing autism -- but the way the immune system reacted to the virus or pathogen in an inflammatory way harming the baby. Many on this web site suspect that a flu vaccine given to a pregnant woman would do the same. .

Our immune systems are passed down - like genetics-from some environmental event that our parents and grand parents have come across. That does includes the fathers' immune system as well.

Science knows this --that is why EPA has all kinds of guide lines set up that big companies like Dow Chemical - has to go by when testing their product.

Dow Chemical -- may keep testing as high as 15 or more generations of animals after the initial parents have tried their product; not just to find if it causes mutations, but mainly because the immune system is mostly affected; and an immune system can be passed down through many generations -- appearing in so many seemingly different array of health problems.

So go back to what Jenny has to say -- look into diets and testing, mitochochondrial diseases is linked to autism wether they are acquired or not.

Starry Night: everyone knows what causes autism except the people who have very recently diagnosed kids. It's a medical condition resulting in a varied spectrum of physical, mental, and behavioural symptoms resulting from a combination of toxins (of various origins, including vaccines) given at just the right time (in parents pre-pregnancy, in utero, and post birth) in just the right amount (which varies from person to person and family to family) to just the right people (those who for various reasons cannot detoxify properly).

Because of these many variables, there are many ways to test, and many ways to manage and remediate the symptoms. What works for 7 children, may not work for the next 3. So you will need to dig deep into your own family history and get testing for your own child to find the right answers for you.

Dr. Martha Herbert makes the case that electromagnetic fields (EMF) and radiofrequency radiation (RFR) might be a cause or contributor to autism.

There are many sources of EMF and RFR in the environment. You can check to see that you have not been or are not being overexposed, and you can take steps to decrease your family's exposure. Things you can do (but read the report and verify for yourself): keep your cell phone FAR away from you children and never use it in an enclosed space like a car or elevator, especially a moving car, do not have wi-fi in your home - use wired connections for everything, including your house phone (wireless land lines give off radiation the same way that cell phones do), do not use a wireless baby monitor, check to see if your home is close to a cell phone tower (studies showed ill effects for those within 1/4 mile of a cell tower), make sure that your children's beds are not close to the electric power box (gives off high EMFs), and that they are not hanging out close to or on the other side of a wall where there is an old TV or a plasma - both emit high EMFs (goes through walls), as do laptops and Ipads (although with these, the energy emitted drops off in a shorter distance than with the old TVs). Also, see if you live near a high tension wire. Some municipalities will send an engineer out to homes to measure EMFs upon request.

That has nothing to do with vaccination, which I believe is a major cause of autism, but it is an environmental exposure that you can investigate. I just got a book by Martin Blank PhD called _Overpowered: The Dangers of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMF) and What You Can Do about It_ that you might be interested in reading too.

Starry night is set in my automatic fill on my iPhone from my other daughters favorite painting , sorry if that upset someone.. My name is Lauren. I chose not to vaccinate my children because I was always afraid of a reaction or a injury...my gut did not trust them. I go through hell and back every 6 months with our school system and doctors because of my choice but it is my choice as a parent not to vaccinate just as some parents choose the opposite..I don't judge on that one.
I commented here because my aunt linked me this page in hopes I could find some kind of support group ( she doesn't know I do not vaccinate my kids )
I appreciate all of the links and useful info shared by few but I'm actually shocked to know that there are parents out there behaving as some are here who have children with autism ! I am far from pro choice vaccine , I am for finding a cause that relates to my family for this terrible disease/disorder/injury.. Whatever anyone wants to label it as all I know is autism sucks and choosing over measles made no sense to me... I got the wrong impression from this post and I apologize for waisting anybody's time...

But back to Starry Night -- I know that there are kids out there that slowly regress - and I think that every time there is low grade inflammation affecting the brain. Hard to spot, or a parent can put their finger on but still thre is some instinct screaming in a parent's mind.

So, some cases a kid slowly regresses over a few weeks - 3 weeks for Tetanus - Three weeks for MMR shot --8 weeks for the pertussis.

And that Starry Night is what the powers above us wants us to believe - that is what they want to stand up in front of nursing students and other students and say there are neurological disesase that just don't show up untill later -- a year - a year and half, two years -- and since vaccines are given during that same time period- parents want to denie that it is just genetics and so blame the vaccins.

But Many of us are here because have seen immediate reactions -- and more than one time too!

After watching my son have three different reactions- immediate and the ped gives me word for word speech -- that my college professor gave -- I want to punch them in the nose.

Why;
Because first my ped should have known -- that it was three differnt immediate reactions.

Second because it was three different times right after a vaccine there were reactions -- what are the odd?

Third because my children's ped gave methe same exact speech almost a decade later that my colleger professor gave in a lecture (he had a second job -- he had a franchise lab under Merck) So who was the first person to come up with this speech.

Complications for measles are very low in our country but you hear 30% complication rate often quoted. Here is a table specifying the incidence of complications. You will note that the most common complications are hospitalization (19%), diarrhea (8%) and otitis media (7%) while serious complications like pneumonia (6%) encephalitis (0.1%) and death (0.3%) are rare. http://m.jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/189/Supplement_1/S4/F3.large.jpg

Your original message was not about wanting help: it was apparently about trying to wrong foot people concerned with vaccine damage. Every now and then this story comes up - someone posts claiming to be this person who doesn't vaccinate but simultaneously seems to be desperately concerned about the reputation of vaccine industry. No one has said that vaccines are the sole cause of autism or regressive autism, only that in our experience they pose a significant risk.

The reason I came to this site was because someone linked it to me, I never knew it existed. My situation is true~frankly I do not care if anyone on this site believes it to be true but it is. I no longer go to doctors that force vaccination with fear tactics down my throat... I was searching for a reason,something or someone to blame for why this happened to my child in desperate hopes that I may be able to fix it. I guess I am in the wrong place for that. Sorry to have upset anyone . I was hoping that maybe I would find another parent that understood , I will search elsewhere ... I wish I could blame vaccinations or dental work or brain injury or ANYTHING other then "we just don't know"... Again sorry for upsetting you.

tried to post before but for some reason it did not go through. So here goes again.
Starry Night;

This is not medical advice ; go to a doctor for that. So this is just MO.

You wanted to know why people can have autism from different causes. IMO, It seems pretty simple.

Autism is diagnosed by symptoms, just as a headache is.
If my headache is caused by flu, your headache is caused by being hit by a two by four, and another persons' headache is caused by a brain tumor, all three people can be telling the truth.

In severe autism, non verbal etc, something damaged the brain so it doesn't work properly.

So, brain damage such as encephalitis from vaccine injury, can have the same result as say brain damage caused by say lack of oxygen at birth.

And there has always been a small percentage of people with autism who have Fragile X or Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum.
All those "fragile X studies" (that always seem to be funded, despite no one apparently having the money to do a vax/non vax study,) are done because a small number of people with autism ( about 6%) develop autism from that genetic problem. Sodium Valporate in pregnancy is another risk factor. Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum.

Mitochondrial disease, whether developed via a vaccine injury, or from some other cause.

So; no real explaining necessary. Both can be true.

Having said that, I tend to agree that in your case, based on the way you write, imo it seems likely that you are not telling the truth.

Why?
You want us to believe that you have faced what tends to be a lot of very heavy pressure from doctors and medical professionals to vaccinate your baby, repeatedly over the last three years, and refused every time, yet you come here and appear to resent people who describe a vaccine injury.
You don't come across as someone who strongly believes you and others should not vaccinate.

Being socially criticized by medical professionals is not fun; you would have to have a very strong reason to do it. And if you did have a very strong reason, you probably would have been unlikely to come to a site that talks about vaccine injury and make the kinds of comments that you have.

But I may be wrong.

So, how do you feel/What is your opinion about vaccines causing injury, Starry Night?

I would like to point out that it is possible to be exposed to mercury without being vaccinated. A woman who is pregnant and has had dental work done that involves amalgam fillings should be aware that mercury amalgam fillings aka "silver fillings" can cause symptoms that are identical to autism in small children. So, let's settle this "hang together" question by unequivocally stating that a baby can become autistic without having been vaccinated.

I don't understand how my "story" does not "hang together"... It's not a story it is our life now. I am not pro vaccination at all..like I said I never vaccinated my daughter but yet she has autism. The regressive kind , the horrible moderate-severe kind, the kind of autism that destroys lives around 15-18 months of age..the same time this mmr is given..

Yes, we get this story every now and then on AoA from someone pro-vaccine but who somehow did not vaccinate and then had a child regress into autism all the same. While it is credible that there are some unvaccinated autistic children your story does not entirely hang together.

How does one explain the cause of autism in children who have not ever been vaccinated for anything?
My daughter was typically developing until about 15 months... She was diagnosed with moderate to severe autistic disorder 8 months later. She lost skills, lost interest in people and slipped into another world. Autism is a felon, it robs you of your child and mentally and physically assaults your child daily.
I wouldn't ever wish for autism over measles...
I do wish for an explanation as to why the assumption that a only a vaccine could cause this to happen to their child when it happened to ours, a child to this day ( she is now 3 ) has not been vaccinated?

As a young child, I had measles (probably 1959 or 60). I was sick for a few days and I sustained only a tiny scar on my forehead. 40 years later, I gave birth to my (normal) son, who had all his shots right up to the MMR when he was less than age 2. He then became symptomatic for autism (left the peds office screaming and screamed for the next 5 months)and was diagnosed with autism at age 26 months. We went for biomed treatment (DAN doctors) and discovered that, along with many other disorders, he had live measles lesions up and down his intestines. (No wonder he screamed so.) My boy endured a 1 1/2 year therapy of potent antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral medications (plus a GF/CF, organic diet that he follows to this day) until partial healing took place and he was no longer plagued by constant, intense pain. His vaccine injury leaves him, at age 15, with massive intestinal scarring( which makes his digestion insufficient to meet his nutritional needs) and a highly-damaged immune system. Our is a very typical story of vaccine-injured child from the birth cohort c.1999. The damage leaves such children at certain risk for chronic diseases due to the high oxidative stress of their condition. My son with autism will probably not live a normal lifespan as he will be subject to cancer, heart/liver/kidney disease long before his time. I know there are enormous numbers of such children (and families) who suffer with the same prognosis and must still be subject to the terrible threat/pressure/stigma of the must-vax crowd. Many blessings to all of you and please know that your reality is validated and shared by many others.

I remember finding out after my first child with autism came along that I never had the measles. Measles were going around at that time and I wanted to get pregnant again so I got the shot and was told to wait a few months before trying to have another child because it was a good idea to not have it impact another fetus so I waited. A few months later I did get pregnant and was going to the dental school for treatment and I found out that the dental students were coming down with the measles. One had just checked out with the measles. I was so glad I had taken the shot. My second son was born OK and is OK.

Oh, and Kate -- Kawasakis --- came 7 weeks after the DPT shot -during that time she was not feeling well and had a very swollen at the vaccine injection site.

or it could be nothing more than a fungal infection a week or two after an immunization shot which slowly leads to thyroid trouble years later. It is as John Stone brought to our attention rather invisible.

For the other since she was so good in school - although there were plenty of signs - moods problmes, health problems - had Kawasakis as a baby -- it was not untill I read a vaccine insert off of the website on National Vaccine Information Center - 25 years later did I get it.

For my husband - yes we knew from his immediate reaction at age 28 and then he had another vaccine 6 years later - and it was three weeks later -- but did we finally understand the full extent of the reaction ---- That takes a life time because you keep hoping to get that immune system back under control.

This is just another angle of pharmaganda, the decent person angle. A decent person vaxes to protect those around him who can't be vaxed because of health issues, or early infancy. A decent person accepts whatever child they get as a blessing and accepts and loves him the way he is, because THEY ARE BORN THAT WAY. A decent person buys into the whole saccharine, squeaky-clean vaccine paradigm, with antiseptic, white-gowned medical professionals patting him on the head for compliance with every word from his infallible lips, and fears its opposite, a world in which dangerous germs run wild and decimate entire countries which have let their guard down. It's so alternative universe, a parallel world to that of those of us who fear vaccines.

I left a comment earlier. It hasn't shown up. So, I would like to reiterate: German Measles is Rubella. Generally Measles is called Measles. The MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella aka German Measles) shot contains live Measles, Mumps and Rubella organisms. Rubella is a mild childhood illness. If a woman gets Rubella as an adult while is pregnant, she is endangering her unborn baby. This baby may have birth defects. MMR shots should not be given to a pregnant woman. I was given a Rubella shot while pregnant because the doctor at the time recommended it. I am sorry I didn't know any better then.

We ALL had measles, mumps, chicken pox rubella in my area and not one single casualty ever but today since the law was passed protecting vaccine maker's from liability (1986) and now that kids get 70 vaccines, 1 in every 6 US kids are Developmentally Disabled. That casualty is the worst in the history of mankind. It is World War IV! Shell of the book,"Recovering Autism, ADHD, & Special Needs."

You're right, Bob, I hadn't thought of it, but vaccination was only used for the smallpox vaccination. I get that they are admitting that they don't reliably create immunity, but vaccination comes from the cow (vacca) they got cowpox from (theoretically) to make the vaccine, so it really isn't suitable to use to talk about all whatever they ares. Probably to hard at this juncture to introduce another term though. It would be amusing though to have a contest for who could come up with the most appropriate word for it.

Linda, These are 'Mennonites' and not the true Amish that are getting vaccinated, true Amish rarely get vaccinated, and most sects don't vaccinate at all, you will be hard pressed to find a vaccinated Amish person in Ohio, and I agree they make it look like every Amish person in Ohio is running to get vaccinated.

The Science Mag article doesn't say how she contracted the measles while treating her like she was the first of something or other? Is this just a function of some disease control definition? Did she get measles from a recently vaccinated person and we pretend that can't happen with measles? Or do asymptomatic transmissions not exist in the official disease prevention manual or ...? Do vaccinated people sometimes just erupt with whatever stored away vaccine or naturally acquired virus, something like shingles, and they don't bother explaining this?

They are always telling us vaccines do not always work so I don't see what exactly is so challenging to conventional wisdom or "first time" about this? It seems to me like they just haven't traced things back far enough here (like maybe back a millenium or two or ten or ....)?

Anyway, on the main point, thanks for addressing this. I've seen a few, only a few, of these comments: "I would rather my child had autism than fill-in-the-blank-disease." I've even seen it with chicken pox. I think some of it is a symptom of being raised with a germophobic focus that our society has had for a long time and lack of much education on both autism (or the origins of much of what ails us today) and disease history. And we have a system that doesn't really care how many people poison themselves with products promoted as "protective," all the better for other markets as long as the numbers stay marginalizable, but not buying into the risks? That's downright "criminal" even if there may be less commercial/less state approved, ways of doing things that could be better.

But if some saying "I would rather my child had X than Y" have had personal experience with the worst of whatever disease (and the system always blames all adverse outcomes on the germ), and it's hard to know what to say.

I don't want to be like those that "educated" me into allowing the poisoning of my daughter (and myself--though I didn't have much say on most of that) mostly through fear, often using the victims to make the point (and I'm dogged with an ironical awareness that I'm burdened with a sensitivity to being frightened quite likely due to overdose of the very substances they are promoting), but the worst of autism appears very easily able to hold a candle to the worst of disease and not be cowed.

A pollution burden (possible to acquire at least partly with a vaccine) and/or related immune skewing, endocrine, intestinal, neurological disorders can demolish just about everything that makes one happy to alive, while you still walk around seemingly functioning and whole on the outside, expected to act like things are what they are not. Disease might bring some of the invisible suffering too, though possibly, not without a co-existing pollution burden. At least I really now suspect long-term adverse outcomes have other factors to share the blame (or that should take the blame). Our injured children are teaching us that pollution can go further with obvious crippling effects and recognizable suffering. And there is also a shortening of life expectancy. We've traditionally assigned these more extreme "mysterious" outcomes to germs or genes, with little to be done about it, but it's past time to get wiser.

It's really important to distinguish between Measles and Rubella. Rubella is German Measles. Those are two completely different illnesses. Rubella is not very dangerous as a childhood disease, but becomes dangerous for the unborn child, if the mother contracts it during pregnancy.

Members of an Ohio Amish community normally reluctant to vaccinate their children flocked to a makeshift clinic for measles shots this week after an outbreak that may have sickened at least 15 people.

More than 135 people crowded into a local woodworking business Thursday where nurses used up every available dose of vaccine — and then ordered 300 doses more, said Pam Palm, a spokeswoman for the Knox County, Ohio, Health Department.

“Not getting immunizations has been the way the Amish have felt in the past, but they certainly have responded in this situation,” Palm said.

Nearing the end of autism awareness month the "awareness" I saw in my state and local area made autism seem pretty cool and almost kind of awesome.

A young mother wouldn't fear something so quirky and amazing. People don't die from autism....except the ones who flee and meet their demise in a horrible way like drowning, being hit by a car or freezing to death. But who wants to think about them because that's just being negative. Or think or talk about any of the real problems facing those affected by autism. It's been a real whitewashing this month. I almost can't believe the direction autism awareness has taken. As a mother of a young child diagnosed with autism I was alarmed and concerned. Now as the mother of a young adult with autism I am perplexed and astonished by the "it's not a big deal" and "let's embrace and accept this" .

Vicki,
I agree that it is ideal for children between five and ten to get both the red or English measles (10-day) and German measles or rubella (3-day). I had it when I was six, the way virtually all children did then. That solves two problems: it prevents adults from getting English measles, when it can be more serious (but is still not usually dangerous) and rubella for pregnant women. And it prevents babies from getting them when the diseases can be dangerous for them, since a mother who has had natural measles protects her babies with placental immunity and breast feeding.

It would be a problem for a relatively short time that many adults would just have to get measles and deal with it, or get measles booster shots and deal with the consequences. Then we could go back to the ideal, pre-vaccine situation of 95% of children getting measles by the age of 15, 4% getting immunity through subclinical infection, and only 1% still vulnerable by adulthood. But, as you say, the benefits of natural measles are so many, permanent immunity, a stronger, more competent immune system, developmental strides, the ability to protect infants, and protection from several cancers and degenerative diseases in later life (natural measles has even cured cancer! I have data on a study published in The Lancet in 1970).

We are in the grip of a huge fear-mongering campaign waged by Big Pharma. Although malnourished children, either here or in the Third World, are at much greater risk of complications and mortality, Abdulkadir Khalif believes that it is even better that they die of measles, if such were God's will, than to be crippled for life with autism. As Dr. Jay Gordon said a few weeks ago, measles is not dangerous for healthy children. Parents of immunocompromised children should take them to a naturopath and a homeopath to learn ways to improve their immune functioning.

Parents should know they should not give Tylenol or other fever reducers and just let the high fever ride: it is self-limiting, and if caused by natural measles rather than a complication, will not last more than two and a half or three days. I just talked to a girl at the health food store the other day who said that fevers of 105 cause brain damage: this is not true, fevers caused by natural illnesses do not cause brain damage, and the immune system knows how high to make the fever and how long to leave it there to do its job of killing the virus and saving the patient's life. Tylenol prolongs the illness and increases mortality and the encephalitis rate. Vitamin A prevents eye damage and complications. Stay in bed throughout the illness, well-hydrated. Patients with fever usually don't want to eat, and that is fine: the body needs to direct its attention to the illness rather than digestion. Fruit and drinks, soup and crackers if he wants them, would usually be all that is necessary. Give homeopathic bryonia 30C if the rash is taking a long time to appear: measles follows a very predictable course in normal situations, see Aviva Jill Romm's Vaccinations for details. Take appropriate remedies if complications seem to be developing (coughing might become pneumonia, ear and eye infections). Stay at home until three weeks after the rash appears, as measles depresses the immune system much more than most illnesses, and does not go back to normal for that length of time. And then the patient will be on the mend in ten days, and enjoy the lifelong benefits of a natural case of measles, and is 100% guaranteed to not be adversely affected by the MMR.

Yeah, a febrile child feeling sickly for a week which would expel toxins and spur developmental growth ... as opposed to my reality? No sleep for thirty years, seizures, ICU, Heart pacemakers, VNS installements, out of pocket diet restrictions, out of pocket doctors, traveling to far away specialists, spurned relationships in own family, economic problems, guilt, dealing with tantrums and aggressions, boewl movements on carpets, walls, toilets, toilets being replaced, constant laundring, constant vigulence, third eye in public, not "moving about the building freely", public disgust of my child, audible awkward moments in quiet settings, back injuries from picking up said child, stitches for falls during seizures, ER events galore, lost wages, no job for mom...yeah...I would take measles...not~

I remember in 1984 a family I babysat for asked if I had had the measles because their daughter, Rhonda was just getting over the measles and they wanted to make sure I didn't get it from her.
"I've had the vaccine, so I'll be okay," I told them.
I was surprised by their response "Ronda had the vaccine too. You can still get it. Almost all of the people getting this strain have had the vaccine."
Back in those days there wasn't a large so called 'anti-vaccine" movement to push back against so the medical system was more honest. There was just a strain of measles that the vaccine often did not protect against. It just happens. There's no one to villanize other than the disease itself.

My grandparents lived upon a creek in a small community and were isolated.

They did not get the measles untill they wre in thier 40s.

They were pretty sick - but they both lived to move off that creek; bought a place right outside of town and became millionaires by producing eggs for the whole region. They were there at the right time and place right after WW2; while people had just moved off the farm into jobs and needed their eggs supplied to them.

Now that is how bad measles were.

I had the measles as a small child and my cousins came down from Ohio to visit - all piled into my room to get the measles -- we had a good time that day. Did you know a child will play even if it is sicker than a dog!

When she was in the 7th grade - there was an out break in some college and they decided to vaccinate them all again.

Stupid school nurse calls me right while I as teaching at anohter school.

I should have just home schooled; but was all worried about the social ramifications of it all. Social ramifications --- good Lord - well they ain't all that good at socializing now after years of schooling.

I'm 62. My 96 year old mother lives with me. And I fear that a younger generation is going to believe today's media and never learn what was common knowledge before this vaccinated age:

The biggest risk with measles was always to pregnant woman. If you got the measles as a child, you were sick for few days (actually, there were two types of measles - the 3-day variety and the 8-day variety). You wanted to have both in childhood, because then you had lifelong immunity. People even let their friends know when a child had the measles so you could purposely expose any children who had not yet gotten the measles out of the way.

If a woman happened not to catch them in childhood, she knew that she had to be extra cautious during pregnancy.

So the vast majority of adults were 100% safe from measles...because they had natural immunity, having had measles as children. We have traded that for folks not having measles in childhood, and virtually all adults under the age of 40 having a slight risk in a measles outbreak.

There is a big difference between 100% immunity and "nearly" 100% protection. Those of us who know for certain we had the measles can safely care for those who have the measles. But those 40 and under have to treat it like a highly dangerous disease. Thus we now hospitalize for a disease that was so benign in children that it was treated at home without even a doctor's visit. And when we are gone, our children and grandchildren will believe what they are being told about this "horrific, damaging disease"...when that simply was not the case at all when we made sure that people got the measles as children rather than being at risk as adults.

The problem now is that we can't go back. If we start permitting children to have the measles again, then some of their vaccinated parents will also get the measles. And they will be very sick, suffer miscarriages, etc. - the unintended consequence of the vaccination theory.